Geoegb westinghouse



(No Model.) G. WESTINGHOUSE, Jr.

MEANS POR DETBGTING LEAKS 1N GAS MAINS.

Patented Apr. 7, 1885.v

WLTNESSE l IAIVEAITQR.4 ggf/WIM miv Anw/Agfa f Bvgmf/Yl. --Yz if ATTORNEY.

' YUNITEE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WEsrrNGHoUsE,JE., E PrrrsBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MEANS FOR DETECTING LEAKS IN GAS-MAINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 315,363, dated Apri1 7,1885.

Application filed January ai, 1885. (No model.)

tudinal central section through'an underground gas-main With my improvements applied; and Eig. 2, a transverse section, on an enlarged scale, through the same at the center of the detector-pipe.

My present invention refers to improvements of the class exemplified in Letters Iatent of the United States No. 306,556, granted and issued to me under date of October 14, 1884; and its object is to provide simple and inexpensive means for fenabling a single detector-pipe to indicate and carry off leakage from any or either of a series of joints or branch connections Within a determined length of an underground gas-main; to Which end my invention, generally stated, consists in the combination, with an underground gas-main, of a sectional superposed cover, a series of packing-partitions forming compartments below said cover, and detector pipes leading from openings in'said compartments to a point above the surface of the ground, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the practice of my invention I lay upon the gas-main 1 a sectional cover, 12, which is preferably formed of sheets of metal bent into the form, in transverse section, of segments of a circle or polygon and laid iu alternate inner and outer courses, the Width and curvature of the cover-plates being such that they shall project laterallyl beyond the main on each side .i

thereof', so as to prevent the contact of the substratum in which the main is laid with the top and side portions thereof.

Tiles or other material may be used, if preferred, to form the cover, in lieu of metal plates; but the latter will be found to be more convenient and economical, as condemned boiler or other plates, which would be other- Wise serviceable only as scrap metal, and which may be obtained at comparatively triing cost, Will be adaptable to the purpose. Continuous longitudinal spaces or compartments j 13, which serve to receive the gas that may leak from the joints or branch connections of the main, are formed between the main and y cover by the lateral projection of the latter beyond the main, and the cover 12 and compartments 13 are divided into sections of any desired length by packing-partitions 14, of clay, cement, or other material adapted to resist the passage of gas at low pressure, said" packing-partitions surrounding the main and extending beyond the cover, so as to thoroughly close the ends of the compartments 13. Each section of the cover and the compartment beneath the same is provided Wit-h a detector land escape pipe, 4, which ts into an opening in one of the cover-plates and extends there` from to any convenient point above the sur-` face of the ground. Said detector-pipe forms an exitfpassage for any gas that may leak from the main into the space beneath the cover, the existence ofsuch leakage being readily ascertainable by applying a light to the outer end of the detector-pipe. The cover-being com-A posed of unconnected and consequently read- A ily-separable sections, the same may be re` moved and replaced with facility and dispatch when required to locate and stop a leak, the existence of which in the compartment may have been indicated by the ignition of gas at' the top ofthe detector-pipe. i I disclaim, broadly a cover or casing for a gas-main, whether the same be made to wholly or partially inclose the main, and disclaim also the combination of a cover and a detector-pipe, my present invention being limited specically to the employment of packing-partitions with a sectional cover and detector-pipes, as herein 9a described and claimed.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. The combination, with an underground gas-main, of a superposed sectional cover ex-` tending laterally beyond and partially around the main, so as to form a continuous compartment adjoining the upper and side portions thereof for a determined section of its length, packing partitions vfitting aroundV themain and closing the ends of said compartment, and 10o cover, sons to divide said space into separate compartments, and a series of detector-pipes, each extending from an opening in one of said 15 compartments to a point a-bove the surface of the ground, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEO. WESTINGHOUSE, JR.

Witnesses:

J. SNoWDnN BELL, R. H. WHIrTLEsEY. 

